Evidence for Distinct Coastal and Offshore Communities of Bottlenose Dolphins in the North East Atlantic
Abstract Bottlenose dolphin stock structure in the northeast Atlantic remains poorly understood. However, fine scale photo-id data have shown that populations can comprise multiple overlapping social communities. These social communities form structural elements of bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops trunc...
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ftciteseerx:oai:CiteSeerX.psu:10.1.1.1046.2696 2023-05-15T17:38:36+02:00 Evidence for Distinct Coastal and Offshore Communities of Bottlenose Dolphins in the North East Atlantic Machiel G Oudejans Fleur Visser Anneli Englund Emer Rogan Simon N Ingram Dauphin Ruth H Carmichael The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives application/pdf http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.1046.2696 en eng http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.1046.2696 Metadata may be used without restrictions as long as the oai identifier remains attached to it. https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk//bitstream/10026.1/3353/1/Evidence%20for%20distinct%20coastal%20and%20offshore%20communities%20of%20bottlenose%20dolphins%20in%20the%20north%20east%20Atlantic.pdf text ftciteseerx 2020-04-05T00:19:12Z Abstract Bottlenose dolphin stock structure in the northeast Atlantic remains poorly understood. However, fine scale photo-id data have shown that populations can comprise multiple overlapping social communities. These social communities form structural elements of bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) populations, reflecting specific ecological and behavioural adaptations to local habitats. We investigated the social structure of bottlenose dolphins in the waters of northwest Ireland and present evidence for distinct inshore and offshore social communities. Individuals of the inshore community had a coastal distribution restricted to waters within 3 km from shore. These animals exhibited a cohesive, fissionfusion social organisation, with repeated resightings within the research area, within a larger coastal home range. The offshore community comprised one or more distinct groups, found significantly further offshore (>4 km) than the inshore animals. In addition, dorsal fin scarring patterns differed significantly between inshore and offshore communities with individuals of the offshore community having more distinctly marked dorsal fins. Specifically, almost half of the individuals in the offshore community (48%) had characteristic stereotyped damage to the tip of the dorsal fin, rarely recorded in the inshore community (7%). We propose that this characteristic is likely due to interactions with pelagic fisheries. Social segregation and scarring differences found here indicate that the distinct communities are likely to be spatially and behaviourally segregated. Together with recent genetic evidence of distinct offshore and coastal population structures, this provides evidence for bottlenose dolphin inshore/offshore community differentiation in the northeast Atlantic. We recommend that social communities should be considered as fundamental units for the management and conservation of bottlenose dolphins and their habitat specialisations. Text North East Atlantic Northeast Atlantic Unknown |
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Abstract Bottlenose dolphin stock structure in the northeast Atlantic remains poorly understood. However, fine scale photo-id data have shown that populations can comprise multiple overlapping social communities. These social communities form structural elements of bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) populations, reflecting specific ecological and behavioural adaptations to local habitats. We investigated the social structure of bottlenose dolphins in the waters of northwest Ireland and present evidence for distinct inshore and offshore social communities. Individuals of the inshore community had a coastal distribution restricted to waters within 3 km from shore. These animals exhibited a cohesive, fissionfusion social organisation, with repeated resightings within the research area, within a larger coastal home range. The offshore community comprised one or more distinct groups, found significantly further offshore (>4 km) than the inshore animals. In addition, dorsal fin scarring patterns differed significantly between inshore and offshore communities with individuals of the offshore community having more distinctly marked dorsal fins. Specifically, almost half of the individuals in the offshore community (48%) had characteristic stereotyped damage to the tip of the dorsal fin, rarely recorded in the inshore community (7%). We propose that this characteristic is likely due to interactions with pelagic fisheries. Social segregation and scarring differences found here indicate that the distinct communities are likely to be spatially and behaviourally segregated. Together with recent genetic evidence of distinct offshore and coastal population structures, this provides evidence for bottlenose dolphin inshore/offshore community differentiation in the northeast Atlantic. We recommend that social communities should be considered as fundamental units for the management and conservation of bottlenose dolphins and their habitat specialisations. |
author2 |
The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives |
format |
Text |
author |
Machiel G Oudejans Fleur Visser Anneli Englund Emer Rogan Simon N Ingram Dauphin Ruth H Carmichael |
spellingShingle |
Machiel G Oudejans Fleur Visser Anneli Englund Emer Rogan Simon N Ingram Dauphin Ruth H Carmichael Evidence for Distinct Coastal and Offshore Communities of Bottlenose Dolphins in the North East Atlantic |
author_facet |
Machiel G Oudejans Fleur Visser Anneli Englund Emer Rogan Simon N Ingram Dauphin Ruth H Carmichael |
author_sort |
Machiel G Oudejans |
title |
Evidence for Distinct Coastal and Offshore Communities of Bottlenose Dolphins in the North East Atlantic |
title_short |
Evidence for Distinct Coastal and Offshore Communities of Bottlenose Dolphins in the North East Atlantic |
title_full |
Evidence for Distinct Coastal and Offshore Communities of Bottlenose Dolphins in the North East Atlantic |
title_fullStr |
Evidence for Distinct Coastal and Offshore Communities of Bottlenose Dolphins in the North East Atlantic |
title_full_unstemmed |
Evidence for Distinct Coastal and Offshore Communities of Bottlenose Dolphins in the North East Atlantic |
title_sort |
evidence for distinct coastal and offshore communities of bottlenose dolphins in the north east atlantic |
url |
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.1046.2696 |
genre |
North East Atlantic Northeast Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North East Atlantic Northeast Atlantic |
op_source |
https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk//bitstream/10026.1/3353/1/Evidence%20for%20distinct%20coastal%20and%20offshore%20communities%20of%20bottlenose%20dolphins%20in%20the%20north%20east%20Atlantic.pdf |
op_relation |
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.1046.2696 |
op_rights |
Metadata may be used without restrictions as long as the oai identifier remains attached to it. |
_version_ |
1766139109681659904 |